Automatic snow-cleaning railway-switch



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

U. s. LU-TZ.

AUTOMATIC SNOW'OLEANING RAILWAY SWITCH. No. 370,797. Patented Q01]. 4, 1887..

N PETERS, vmvtixna nur. Washingtnn. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'ULYSSES S. LUTZ, OF BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC SNOW-CLEANING RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,797, dated October 4, 1887.

Application filed February 28, 1887. Serial No. 229,226. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ULYssEs S. LUTZ, a cilizen of the United States, residing at Bloomsburg, in the county of Columbia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Automatic Snow-Oleaning Railway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in automaticsnow-cleaning railway-switches and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims. 1

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a railway-switch embodying my improvements,showing the switch-set for the main line in solid lines and for the siding in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal central sectional view taken on the linemcof Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa vertical transverse sectional View taken on the line yy ofFig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line 2 z of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the switch-rails. Fig. 7 is a detached view of one of the wedge-shaped guide-blocks.

A B represent the parallel rails of the main track.

0 and D represent the switch-rails, which are arranged on one side of the main rails and are pivoted at one end, as at E. On the inner side of the rail B are a number of supporting blocks, F, the upper sides of which are level with the top of the said rail, and the said blocks are provided with transverse grooves G alongside the rail, through which the flanges of the wheels of passing trains may run. The free end of the switch-rail D has its web or shank and its base cut away for a suitable distance, thereby providing an extending head, D, for the switch-rail, which head rests upon the upper sides of the blocks F, and is thereby adapted to move over the upper side to the contiguous rail B. The extreme free end of the switch-rail D is inclined downwardly to a point, as shown at Fig. 3. The head D is also provided on its inner side for a suitable distance with a laterally-extending flange or web, D which bears upon the blocks F when the point of the switch-rail rests on top of the rail B.

On the outer side of the rail A', and in line with the blocks F, are similar blocks, G,which support the free end of the switch-rail G, the latter being similar in construction to the switch-rail D and provided likewise with the head 0, having the Wedge-shaped point, and the laterally extending head or flange G. Stay-rods H have their extremities upturned and pivotally connected to the webs G and D by means of bolts I, the said stay-rods serving to connect the free ends of the switch-rails together, The switch-rails are also connected together by a stay-rod, K, which has bifurcated extremities that engage opposite sides of the bases of the switch-rails.

L represents a metallic plate, which is secured on the upper side of one of the crossties between the rails A B and at a suitable distance from the free end of the switch-rails. On this plate is fulcrumed a bell-crank lever, N, one arm of which is connected to one of the stay rods H by means of a pitman, N.

0 represents a lever, which is fulcrumed in a bearing, P, that is attached to the outer end, of the extended tie to which the plate L is secured, and the-said lever is connected to the rod H by means of a pitman, B. By means of the said lever O and the connecting-rods, hereinbefore described, it will be understood that the switch-rails may be moved laterally toward and over the rails of the main track or moved from the said rails of the main track.

It will be also understood that as the free ends said guide-blocks are provided on their inner sides with vertical flanges S, and across the upper sides of the said blocks at the outer ends of the flanges and at a point nearly midway in the blocks are made grooves or re cesses S T represents a pair of wedges or liftingblocks, one of which is arranged on the upper side of each of the guide-blocks S. The said lifting blocks are provided on their inner sides with raised flanges T, which bear against the inner sides of the flanges S, the inner sides of the said liftingblocks bearing against the inner sides of the track-rails. On the lower sides of the lifting'bloeks are transverse shoulders or offsets T which are adapted to enter the recesses S of the guide-blocks.

U represents a cross-bar, which connects the lifting-blocks together, and V represents a bail or yoke, which is attached to the said crossbar near the ends thereof. The front side of this bail is connected to the long arm of the bell-crank lever N by means of a rod, W, which rod has its free end working in guideways X, arranged transversely on one of the cross-ties. Vhen the switch-rails have their free ends moved onto the upper sides of the main rails, the crossbar U is drawn forward by the bell-crank lever and the lifting-blocks T are moved forward on the inclined guideblocks S, so that the said lifting-blocks are raised nearly to the same plane as the tops of the track-rails.

The operation of my invention is as follows: When a train approaches the switch from the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 and is to be thrown upon the side or switch track, the lever O is turned so as to cause the free end of the switch-rails to be moved over and rest upon the upper side of the rails A and B, and at the same time the lifting-blocks T are moved forward on the inclined guide-blocks, as before described. Vhcn in this position, the shoulders or ofl'sets T on the lower sides of the lifting-blocks engage the recesses s on the upper sides of the guide-blocks, and thus the lifting-blocks are held firmlyin position thereon and are prevented from slipping. \Vhen the wheels ofthe train arrive at points on the main track opposite the lifting-blocks, the flanges of the said wheels bear upon the latter, and, owing to the inclination at which the saidlifting-blocks are supported by the said guideblocks, the treads of the wheels as they travel toward the switch-rails are raised above the tops of the main rails and also over the extreme reduced ends of the switch-rails where the latter come to a point, and thereby the points of the said switch-rails are prevented from being mashed and worn by the wheels. \Vhen the wheels have passed thelifting-blocks, theyare lowered upon the switch-rails at a considerable distance from the extreme pointed ends thereof and at points on the switclrrails which are sufficiently thick to easily withstand the strain exerted upon them.

The main object of my invention is to provide a switch which will automatically clear itself of snow and other matter that may accumulate on the track. The heads of the switch-rails are arranged above the level of the rails of the main track, so that when the switchrails are worked they move entirely across the rails of the main track and push off snow, 820., accumulating thereon.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a railway-switch. the combination of the main rails A B, the blocks F and G on the sides thereof, and the switch-rails having the extended treads at their free ends supported on the blocks F and G and adapted to sweep over and rest upon the upper sides of the main rails, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in arailway'switch, of the main rails, the switch-rails having their free ends adapt-ed to bear upon the main rails and reduced to a wedge-shaped point, and the inclined lifting-blocks on the inner sides ofthe main rails adapted to engage the flanges of the wheels and raise the treads of the latter from the main rails onto ,the switch-rails and to clear the extreme thin-pointed ends thereof, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the main rails, the switch-rails having their free ends adapted to pass over and rest upon the tops of the main rails, the lever connected to the said switchrails to operate the same, and the longitudinally-movable lifting-blocks arranged on the inner sides of the main rails and connected to the operating-lever, and thereby movable simultaneously with the switch-rails, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a railway-switch, of the inclined guide-blocks S on the inner sides of the main rails, and the lifting-blocks T, supported on the said blocks S and adapted to raise the treads of the wheels from the tops of the rails, the said lifting-blocks being movable on the supporting-blocks, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a railway-switch, of the inclined blocks S on the inner sides of the main rails and having the recesses S on their upper sides, and the longitudinally-movable lifting-blocks T on the blocks S and having the offset T, adapted to engage the recesses S, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ULYSSES S. LUTZ.

Vitnesses:

O. B. BROCKWAY, ANDREW CAMPBELL. 

